"THE FEAR OF THE LORD -part 1" (Lk. 12:4-5)

"And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: FEAR HIM, WHICH AFTER HE HATH KILLED HATH POWER TO CAST INTO HELL; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him." -(Lk. 12:4-5)

"The Fear of the Lord" is a major Bible doctrine found throughout the canon of scriptures, from Genesis through Revelation; And friend, that which the HOLY BIBLE (inspired, of course, by the Holy Spirit) deems to be important... WE should deem to be important as well!

The original Greek words definition of "fear" from the Bible in this sense is...

"moral reverence, awe, and even 'fright'".

Our God is an AWESOME God; He created the universe, and owns all things. Every living and physical and spiritual thing is upholden and sustained by His POWER! Here is just a small sample of scriptures in the Bible about the vast awesomeness of God: (Isa. 40:12-15; 42:8-9; 43:10-13; 44:6-8,24-25; 45:5-6,12).
We see from this that God is not to be trifled with; He has ALL POWER! It is wise therefore to honor, revere, and to respect Him, and to not take lightly the great mercy and grace He has bestowed upon mankind through His redemption at the Cross.
He in His great Love BECAME one of us- JESUS CHRIST- and died on that Cross as our Substitute, to pay the Price for our sins.
Let me explain to you why this was necessary: Man is a sinner from birth: He is born with a "sin" nature inherited through the blood-line of the FIRST sinner: ADAM. Romans 5:12 says that "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so DEATH passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Romans 3:23 says that "ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Now what does this MEAN? The "glory of God", and us falling short of it? The GLORY OF GOD, in this case, refers to His HOLINESS. You see, He is perfectly pure of even the least SPECK of corruption; Of.... "SIN". His very BEING, and character, is without any fault whatsoever; The epitomy of total GOODNESS AND LIGHT, the total ABSENCE of any evil & darkness. John 4:24 says that "God is a Spirit"; He is a Spirit Being WITHOUT SIN.
Now "sin" is defined in the Bible, in 1 Jhn. 3:4, as "the transgression of the law", and this is referring to THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (See Ex. 20:3-17).
THIS is God's Standard of holiness, of "goodness". But there was (and IS) a big "problem": On the ONE hand, there is man: sinful from birth, with a nature that is bent upon BREAKING His ten commandments. And on the OTHER Hand, there is A PERFECTLY HOLY GOD, Who cannot impart His Divine spiritual Life to sinful beings, nor can He even have FELLOWSHIP with them. What He LOVES, they HATE, and what He HATES, they LOVE. God, in fact, HATES sin; And His wrath burns against those who COMMIT sin. Sin cannot exist in God's Presence, whatsoever; It has to be.... ERADICATED. Habakkuk 1:13 says of God, "Thou art of purer Eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity". And again, in Romans 1:18, "For the WRATH OF GOD is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the Truth in unrighteousness." Also in Ephesians 5:5-6: "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh THE WRATH OF GOD UPON THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE."
See that? THE WRATH OF GOD. And what elicits that wrath? "SIN". All it takes is just one sin, just.... ONE, and God is verrrrry angry! SO much so, that He must pour out His judgment on the PERPETRATOR of the sin. There is a "natural" judgment upon the person during his lifetime as the natural consequences of his particular sins, and as the result of the attendant "curse" associated with sin in general. However, there is a judicial horrifying penalty AFTER death as well: First, a place called "HELL" (I will discuss this in a moment).

Now, this you must understand: God does not WANT to have to send a person to hell, but He has no choice but to DO so if the person refuses to "REPENT" (be sorry for, and turn away from his sins), and to trust in His Son's Blood Sacrifice on the Cross for Righteousness. (See Ezek. 18:20-23,31-32)
"Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?" -(Ezek. 18:23)
See that? He has no PLEASURE that a man should perish... because of His LOVE.
"For God so LOVED the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should NOT perish, but have everlasting Life." -(John 3:16).
And when this speaks of "everlasting Life", it means having His Life-giving Spirit here in THIS PRESENT life, and also spending eternity with God, and in His pure... "LOVE AND GOODNESS. The wicked will live for eternity as WELL, but they will go to a place that is the complete OPPOSITE of goodness and love. They will be forever ABSENT from God, basically a continuation of not fellowshipping with Him in their natural lifetime. However, after physical death, they will be removed from ANY beneficial influence AT ALL from a God Who now "makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends His rain on the just and the unjust" (Matthew 5:45); MEANING..... that with no influence from God, there will be NO GOODNESS OR LOVE WHATSOEVER. Only corruption, hatred, horror, and pain. UNIMAGINABLE pain. We get a preview of this "everlasting pain" in the book of Revelation, when during the great tribulation period, people in the kingdom of the anti-christ shall "gnaw their tongues for pain because of God's judgments being poured out upon the earth." (Rev. 16:10).
So we see here a sort of "dichotomy"; Meaning "polar opposites": On the one hand, the LOVE of God PARDONING man and giving him a GLORIOUS FUTURE; And on the other hand, the WRATH of God, JUDGING AND CONDEMNING him to eternal ANGUISH AND TORMENT (see Romans 2:7-11).

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting Life: ....
and he that believeth NOT the Son shall NOT see Life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." -(John 3:36). Two opposites: "LIFE' or "WRATH"

"Behold therefore the GOODNESS and SEVERITY of God." -(Rom. 11:22)

You see, friend, it is foolish, verrrry foolish to pass up the great DEAL that God has offered to man. It's kinda like this: A man is on "death row", a condemned man, and then comes a call from the President to the warden, "I PARDON this man. The only requirement I ask of him is three things: #1) I will OWN him as my servant for LIFE, but I will adopt him as a son and love him, plus make him an heir of my estate, #2) I must see that he is humble and repentant for his transgressions, #3) He must believe that I can and that I am doing this.
Now, if you thought that THIS was too far-fetched, too good, please realize that GOD gives us actually FAR MORE than that, and what HE requires of us is this: It boils down to two things, both to be SAVED, and also to LIVE FOR HIM:

#1) REPENTANCE OF SINS. This includes being "sorry" (from the heart) for sins, "confessing" that one is a sinner, and then a willingness to "turn away" form sins.

#2) TRUSTING IN JESUS AND HIS BLOOD SACRIFICE (IE: "THE CROSS") FOR ANY MORAL GOODNESS WHATSOEVER.

That right there is God's requirement. Once we do that, we become "PURCHASED by His.. BLOOD". And you know what that means? We become God's POSSESSION; We are... HIS. He is our "Lord". Ahhh, but now WAIT a minute: Most people do not w-a-n-t that, now DO they? Most might like God to perhaps be a "part" of their life, maybe on Sunday morning, and even possibly Wednesday evening. A "part" of their life (You see that? "THEIR" life.). Yet God requires that our WHOLE life become His. Paul the Apostle said THIS, in Galatians 2:20:

"I (me and MY life) AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST (speaks of the Cross); NEVERTHELESS I LIVE. YET 'NOT I' (see this?), BUT CHRIST LIVETH IN ME; AND THE LIFE WHICH I NOW LIVE IN THE FLESH I LIVE BY THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD, WHO LOVED ME, AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME (again speaks of the Cross)."

You see, friend, true Christianity is not "RELIGION'; It is a "CHANGED LIFE", with "GOD" at the Center of your "wheel" (life), not as just "one of the spokes". If YOU are at the center of the wheel - "self" - God says... "Huh-uh, No deal!" There will then be NO pardon for you! Warden... get that electric chair readyyyyy! Now here is where a little FEAR should come in. And by "fear", I mean the prisoner realizes that the President has complete Power over his fate, and he begins to respect the President and be afraid of His Power to condemn him to an agonizing DEATH.
Likewise, WE are to fear the LORD, and care about HIS approval... more than pleasing ourself; Or fearing PEOPLE, caring about their approval!

I would now like to share with you some (just a few of VERY MANY) scriptures from the Bible on "the fear of the Lord". Take heed, my friend, and read these scriptures carefully:

"And unto man He said, Behold, THE FEAR OF THE LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." -(Job 28:28)

"THE FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise endureth forever." -(Psa. 111:10)

"THE FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." -(Prov. 1:7)

"THE FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." -(Prov. 9:10)

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: FEAR GOD, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." -(Eccl. 12:13)

So we see here, that "the fear of the Lord" is not only the "starting point" or "beginning" of WISDOM, but that it is even part of the whole duty of man; This makes this no small matter, and of grave IMPORTANCE. In other words, if the fear of the Lord is absent, there will be... problems!

I would like to now return to one of our opening scriptures, Lk. 12:5:
"FEAR HIM, which after He hath KILLED, hath power to cast into HELL; Yea, I say unto you, Fear HIM."
Within this grand Bible doctrine of "the fear of the LORD", I would now like to preach on a subject you will not HEAR very often these days:

"HELL".

Many people do not believe in this awful place any more. But the Bible actually says a LOT about this; And if the Bible is right (which I know it IS), there will be many people in a LOT of trouble!
First, get out a Bible, and please read LUKE 16:19-31.
We plainly see from this that HELL is ... 1) a place of NO ESCAPE, and 2) a very dry and hot place of TORMENT, so BAD that you wanna warn your relatives NOT to GO there! And you know what the WORST torment will be? Knowing that you did not HAVE to go there! That God had offered you a Way OUT, and you REJECTED it!!!
Okay, let's look some more about this terrible place, from the words of Jesus Himself.

(Please read Mark 9:42-48)

Now the word "worm" talked about here ..... I looked it up in the original Greek, and it means actual earth worms, or... "maggots". This, my friend, is truly horrifying stuff.

(Please read Job 24:13-20)

See that? So we see, also, from the last two Bible passages, that hell is a place of unquenchable FIRE, and where MAGGOTS feed upon the person. Friend, you don't wanna go to hell, and you better warn those you care... about this! Contrary to the opinions of some, it is not a place where you will PARTY, and "live it up"!. It is place of UNSPEAKABLE TORMENT AND ANGUISH.
"HELL", in the Bible, is also likened unto "outer darkness". It says in 1 John 1:5 that "God is Light, and in Him is NO 'darkness' at ALL." Remember when I said earlier that God is perfect "goodness and purity"? That is what this is referring to: Perfect LIGHT/ Perfect GOODNESS AND PURITY. On the other hand, "HELL", a place totally WITHOUT God, is a place of perfect "DARKNESS", of EVIL AND CORRUPTION. Every vile and terrible and hateful thing and PERSON is there:...... HITLER is there. SERIAL KILLERS, like Jeffrey Dahmer, who boiled and ate parts of his victims bodies... are there. PEDOPHILES are there. And if a person goes there, these awful people may be right by his side!!! Total evil and corruption.... "outer darkness"!

(Please read Matt. 8:11-12)
(Please read Matt. 22:10-13) Ahhh, do you see that? Another aspect of hell: WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH!)
(Please read Matt. 25:29-30)

See that? "Outer darkness; weeping and gnashing of teeth".
Now... where IS "hell"?, you might ask. It is BELOW you, in the bowels of the earth; The Bible says so. Read this next scripture, and you shall see:

(Please read Ezek. 32:18,22-29)

Do you get the idea? Hell, the "nether parts of the earth", the "pit"? Scary stuff.

Let me explain this to you very clearly: ANY one who is not "born again", not saved by the Blood of Jesus, not "written in the Lamb's Book of Life", at the moment they die, will be cast INTO this awful place! We need to WARN people. Fortunately, we are not as LAZARUS, who could NOT warn his relatives, because it was too LATE for him. We are still alive, still have breath, in .... "the land of the living". God has made a Way "out", and that Way is JESUS CHRIST; and the Means is THE CROSS. O hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is important for me to note at this point, that "HELL", as bad as IT is, is only a "temporary" place of torment. You see, the moment an unsaved person DIES, he is indeed cast into "HELL". That is what is called "the FIRST death"; But there is also a "SECOND death" awaiting the unsaved person. Let's read about this, and I will shortly close:

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such THE SECOND DEATH hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."
"And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from Whose Face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another Book was opened, which is the Book of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death AND HELL delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged evry man according to their works.
And death AND HELL were cast into..... THE LAKE OF FIRE. This is THE SECOND DEATH.
AND WHOSOEVER WAS NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE WAS CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE. " -(Rev. 20:6,11-15)

"He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in THE LAKE WHICH BURNETH WITH FIRE AND BRIMSTONE: WHICH IS THE SECOND DEATH." -(Rev. 21:7-8).

You see, as bad as "HELL" was, there is something even MORE terrible: the lake of fire! The picture that comes to my mind is "BURNING LAVA", and living in there for EVER and EVER, and feeling every bit of the pain, unending, for eternity!
Perhaps you have wondered... How do the wicked get away with their stuff, their terrible atrocities they commit? HURTING people, destroying their LIVES. Well what you must understand is that God metes out PERFECT justice. Just because you don't see it, maybe not in your lifetime, buddy.... its COMING. God is on a different time frame than the rest of us; He is ETERNAL, has a LOT of time to work with! And every soul, although having a limited time frame here in this life in the "physical" sense, and whether good or wicked, is eternal as well; And many times He will wait until after a person's physical death to give him that final blow. I believe, by all indications from the Bible, that there will be "degrees of punishment", of "torment" in hell and in the lake of fire. For example, God will not judge Hitler the same as He would some unsaved Catholic nun. But regardless, even for the BEST of the unsaved, it will STILL be an eternity of horrendous torment. And many former CHRISTIANS, including PREACHERS, will be in the very DEPTHS of hell and the lake of fire, receiving the most severe judgment of all, because they received much Light, and yet spurned and turned away from It! (see 2 Pet. 2:20-21; Heb. 10:29-31; Lk. 12:45-47; Matt. 11:20-24).

I have not even really scratched the surface of the topic of "THE FEAR OF THE LORD" yet; But I think that now you get the idea of WHY we are to fear the Lord, right? We are NOT to take sin lightly, and I will get into that in my NEXT sermon: "THE FEAR OF THE LORD- part 2".